Probation officer charged with stealing payments

A Lowell probation officer has been charged with larceny for allegedly pocketing money he received from probationers, according to a statement from Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone.

Benjamin Okiwe, 37, of Quincy, was charged with larceny over $250 and larceny by scheme.

Okiwe is alleged to have taken cash payments for supervisory fees that he never recorded on the probationers’ payment cards, even after cash payments were discontinued last year.

Authorities also allege that some of the cash payments Okiwe received were listed as community service credit instead of cash payments. It is alleged that the defendant would personally take the money and would note that the probationer was fulfilling community service hours.